Dear Tormenters

This was written by Leah Parsons.

Dear Tormenters, You can hide behind the computer and make threats but I am not afraid of you and no I will not shut up. I stand for my daughter and I always will. Your attacks at my bad parenting do not hurt because I know what Rehtaeh and I had for 17yrs and I know what type of a parent I was and I am confident in that.

I/we did not ruin the “little boys” life. They made their own decisions. Did they think sending a photo around of Rehtaeh would not ruin hers? They had days to decide whether sending a photo of Rehtaeh would be a wise decision and they made their choice.

Asking us why we made such a big deal of what happened to her after her death and not before is again a bizarre question. We always made a big deal of it and so did Rehtaeh. When the investigation ended a full year later. She tried to move on. She wanted to be believed and not have everyone attack her character and harass her.

It baffles my mind that we are suffering the loss of our child and people like you continue to attack us, attack Rehtaeh. What are you trying to prove? Our daughter is gone, she was not the same girl after November 2011. We lived with pain and she struggled immensely, yet you want us to feel for you? No, I was not there that night and neither were you but I know the repercussions and everything that followed .

Rehtaeh, you were up against some pretty cruel people with zero compassion or caring.

3 thoughts on “Dear Tormenters

  1. Saw in online news this morning that there have been two arrests in this case. have you seen this/been informed? I was hoping the family would have (at least) been informed?

  2. Glen & Leah , I feel your pain I lost my youngest son 1 1/2 yrs ago, on July 17th / 2013 I lost my grandson who I raised until he left home at 19 , at 23 yrs old he went out in his Aunts backyard and hung himself . I feel like you about what he was thinking before he did this , sadly we will never know . My prayers and blessings to you and your family & friends God Bless .

    Diane

  3. What is both sickening and illustrative of where these guys come from is how one family member of one of the boys was very vocal and dismissive of the picture, the harm it did and how it was clearly a premeditated effort to destroy Rehtaeh’s life. She claimed it was a drunken mistake and clearly misses that they decided to widely share that picture when they were completely sober. Their friends and family have tried to claim they are “good” and would never do what they were accused of but it is starkly clear what they are capable of. In fact the style of writing of one of the threats published against you looks suspiciously like that of comments made by one of the guy’s father.

    Throw in allegations of (at least) one of them having raped another girl and their assaulting one of Rehtaeh’s friends with a deadly weapon (knife) and others with pepper spray after mocking them about her. They even posed for a picture holding the pepper spray and defiantly fingering the camera afterwards. That last event alone and when it occurred is both a clear sign of how “good” they are, destroys the claims of their innocence and almost certainly was a huge factor in pushing her over the edge. Like many victims, Rehtaeh probably feared for her own safety and after being victimized unimaginably by both them and the system meant to help her it is easy to see how it lead to her death.

    Their actions and those they encouraged others to do did harm to her on a deep and neurological level. The pictures alone were a kind of assault and one that left neurological wounds. This is not woo woo talk it is biology and if a person dies from an physical assault it is murder. What they did was as severe as being physically crippled by an attack though it did not show on her skin. To me this is more than a case of rape and child pornography. This was a case of murder.

    My deepest condolences to you and Rehtaeh’s family, Glen.

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